Maybe he is freshest in the beginning? He is a huge guy. Remember Shaq later in his career, with Phoenix, with Miami. He always felt like he went off early and got like half of his points in the first qtr.

He is, but Avery also has a habit of going away from him for stretches (esp. in the 2nd half) which is pointless. If you're going to have him in, ride him, otherwise he wastes energy on his attempts to post up which he still does. He still a much more efficient option than Iso-Joe or giving it to Hump at the top of the key.